I wasn't sure how to describe the fog I noticed early last Friday evening as I was finishing up my garden chores. The way it crept along the edges of the harbor, surrounding but not engulfing it, made me think of an episode of Twilight Zone. It was sunny and clear where I was standing and I could see blue sky above and beyond the fog, which moved in more like a wave than a blanket.
This is what I saw just after 6pm on Friday evening |
This is the view after sunrise the next morning |
I did a little online surfing and the best explanation I could find suggests that what I saw wasn't fog at all but clouds, perhaps Arcus clouds, possibly of the roll cloud type. Interesting but not Twilight Zone material. If you've seen something similar or can offer a better explanation, let me know.
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It's a cool effect. Years ago I visited Maui with my family. We drove up to the top of Haleakala and experienced a similar event. Everything below was cloud while we were up in the sun. It was a neat experience.
ReplyDeleteWe're a little over 800 feet above sea level and we sometimes have clouds pass right through the garden but this is the first time I can remember seeing this particular effect.
DeleteInteresting phenomenon, weather is always surprising us!
ReplyDeleteThe view we have at present probably just allows us to see cloud formations and weather anomalies that I just missed when our view consisted mainly of the walls of the houses surrounding us ;)
DeleteFog events around San Francisco are really interesting. Most of the time I've observed them when going or coming back from SFO just south of the city. The fog tops the hills to the west and pours down to the valley below, sometimes back-lit by the setting sun. It looks very similar to your first photo, but imagine it engulfing a hill.
ReplyDeleteAt the start, I thought that's what was going to happen in the harbor, Kathy, but the wave of moist air became more cloud like and, for whatever reason, it never moved into the harbor itself, remaining just outside its boundary like a sentry.
DeleteInteresting... I love fog. Several times, as I'm going to work in the morning, as I get off the freeway, I have been met with this amazingly thick, mysterious fog that envelops me and makes oncoming traffic look almost unreal. I always wonder why the fog starts there, and not closer to town. As for The Twilight Zone - we've been binge-watching it throughout the pandemic. Just love it, and is eternally grateful there are so many episodes.
ReplyDeleteTwilight Zones was/is the best of its genre in my view, Anna. I can still remember plot lines of many of the episodes, something I can't always say about books I read 2 months ago.
DeleteYou often have interesting observations from your perch on the hill side.
ReplyDeleteYes, there's an actual view here, Lisa, unlike the circumstances at our former home ;)
ReplyDeleteThat certainly does look dramatic that one can easily be inspired to weave stories out of such phenomenon. Cool!!
ReplyDeleteWeaving stories, especially sinister ones, out of things like unusual fog was something Twilight Zone did well, which is probably what brought that series to mind.
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